


Detective Rita

by mercutiglo



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Detective Work, Rita finally gets to detect yall, tags will be updated as the fic progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:40:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24167500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercutiglo/pseuds/mercutiglo
Summary: Juno's bogged down with cases at the moment and Rita finally gets to do the investigations she's always wanted. But will it end up being what she wanted?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7
Collections: The Penumbra Minibang 2019-2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is part of this years Penumbra Mini-bang, which means there's also going to be amazing art included in this fic!  
> The first is the beautiful cover art created by @scintillart on tumblr!!

(The fic starts in the next chapter)


	2. Chapter 2

Rita sat at her desk for a moment after she ended the call, considering what her best course of action was. She knew Mistah Steel was really swamped trying to figure out this latest burglary case and didn’t wanna be bothered, but she also knew that he would at least wanna know about the fact that there was another person who had called with a new case. She stood up and started pacing a bit, figuring out whether she should just bug him now or wait for him to be a little bit calmer, a little less busy. She considered asking him - yet again, she’d actually managed to lose count of how many times she’d asked him at this point - if he’d consider letting her take care of the case on her own. Even just from the short phone call it was very clear to her where the potential new client’s cat was, it was just a matter of proving it to ‘em. But she knew she had asked him a lot recently, and she didn’t really want Mistah Steel to be mad at her even if it was only just for a lil bit. She looked at the door behind which she could hear her boss monologuing and then returned to her pacing, muttering very quietly. If it worked for Mistah Steel it should work for her too, right?

“What is it, Rita, you’ll wear a hole through the floor.” Juno Steel’s voice was raised just above where it was for monologuing, jolting Rita out of her own trance. The door was still closed and she could see through the window that Mistah Steel was still sitting at his desk, but clearly out of the focused state it had been in before.

She opened the door to Mistah Steel’s office to see him sitting there, eyes looking up from the stack of papers and photos that messily covered his desk. There were several photos that caught Rita’s eye, ones that involved blood spray and bodies on the ground, but Juno paid them no mind. “I uh, I got another call earlier and I just, uh. I didn’t wanna bug ya, you seemed to be so focused on your own case that ya know….”

“Yeah I heard the phone ring and was fine until you started pacing. What was it?”

Rita looked down at her feet. “A missing cat.”

Juno closed his eyes before putting his head in his hands. He sighed heavily. “I take it you already figured out where the cat is?”

She looked up from her feet. Usually when she told Mistah Steel about a call, he would just sigh and ask her to put the details on his desk later, that he’d get to it eventually. She didn’t want to get too optimistic about it - Mistah Steel did look pretty exhausted so he coulda just been looking to find out if this was gonna be an easy change of pace real quick - but she did have a feeling he might just let her take this one. “Oh yeah, the ex-husband’s sistah is totally the one who took it. Along with two cans of cat food.”

Juno took his head out of his hands and picked up the document he must’ve been reading earlier. “You think you can take charge on it then? I’ve gotta call Kahn at 2:30 and I don’t have much to tell him just yet and while it is always fun, I’m not sure if I’m in the mood for another “Damnit Juno” conversation.”

Her eyes began to sparkle, not that Juno was looking up to see. “Really?! Oh wow, thank you Mistah Steel! You know me, Rita’s on the case, I won’t letcha down, Boss!”

As she dashed out of his office, a small smile fell on Juno’s lips as he picked up a pen.

\-----

Rita got off the bus at the stop the client told her was the best and she immediately felt out of place. She had changed into what she had as her “Detective’s Outfit” which was the same style as her usual dress except this one was black and had small purple magnifying glasses and eyes all over it, a long black coat over it. It was far too hot to be wearing something like that but that couldn’t mess with her sense of fashion. But even with the somewhat more muted tones, she felt too bright for the area of town she was in. Dark and dingy corners seemed to suck in the light around them, surprising her considering it was the middle of the day. She didn’t often feel too out of place in Hyperion City, but she knew that as soon as she got that little kitty back in their owners arms, she was gettin’ out of there.

The building she had written down was short, made of brick, and she’d already walked past it three times while trying to find it since it was set back from the street. That didn’t help her feel very good about her investigative skills, but she shook it off. “Come on, Rita, you can do this. It’s gonna be nice and simple, you’re gonna get the cat back to their nice owner, and you’re gonna prove to Mistah Steel you’re good at this.” She went up to the door and looked at the different apartment numbers, looking for a Mx Alve Noreno. When she found their name at apartment number four, she rang the buzzer. 

"What do you want" a gruff voice said through the small, staticky speaker. They sounded like they'd smoked their fair share of days and ruined a singing career because of it. 

"Hi, uh, this is Rita? The detective you spoke to earlier on the phone?" She tried not to sound nervous but since she usually let Mistah Steel do the talkin, she wasn't entirely sure if she was sayin the right things. 

They didn't respond, but the aggressive sound of the door being unlocked let her know that they believed her. She walked in the building and looked around on the first floor before guessing that the fourth unit would be on the second floor. It was at the top of the steps and she knocked. "Door's open." She took a deep breath and walked in. 

The inside of the apartment was spotless and far brighter than she would've expected considering the surroundings. The walls, the furniture, everything in the apartment was a sparkling, almost blinding white. There were things everywhere, it wasn't as though they were trying to achieve minimalism, but it all blended into one another since it was all exactly the same color. Standing in the kitchen was someone stirring a pot of something that smelled like a wonderful blend of spices. Compared to the pristine apartment, they stuck out, wearing all black with golden accessories. They had close cropped hair that was bleached white and nails painted white. Rita looked around, somewhat in awe of the place, but also somewhat looking for any evidence of a cat living in such a well kept space and not finding any. Mx Noreno looked Rita up and down. "So you're a detective?" The skepticism was clear in their voice and it took all Rita could not to take offense to it.

She straightened up and took in a deep breath. "Yup! I learned from one of the best there is, my boss Juno Steel. He never woulda let me take this case if he thought I couldn't handle it."

They raised an eyebrow and looked back at the pot they were stirring. "I see. Well, I'm afraid that there's some details I didn't tell you over the phone, so it might be a bit more complicated than you or your boss thinks it is." 

Rita looks at them for a moment, immediately concerned. Was this more than just a missing cat situation? Juno already didn't really want to let Rita take this case, what had she gotten herself into? "I'm sure I'll be able to handle it just fine. Tell me all about it."


End file.
